The typical wrestling workout session involves spending about 50 percent of the time in the neutral position perfecting takedown skills. This is a smart workout approach because of the great importance takedown superiority has for winning matches. Next, both bottom and top mat wrestling would be equally divided for the purpose of polishing escape or reversal and ride or pinning combination skills.

You can read Human Kinetics e-books on desktop, laptop, and various mobile devices, as long as you have authorized the device or e-reader app to read e-books protected by Adobe’s digital rights management (DRM).

Wrestling’s leading drill book is back. With new chapters, drills, coaching advice, and practice planning, The Wrestling Drill Book, Second Edition, is bigger, better, and more comprehensive than ever.

The Wrestling Drill Book features match-tested drills from the top high school and college wrestling coaches in the sport. From takedowns, escapes, and reversals to riding and pinning combinations, each contributor breaks down a technique, tactic, or facet of wrestling for which he is renowned.

Chapters unfold sequentially, moving from simple to more complex drills, each including setup requirements, descriptions of the action, and key coaching points for maximizing the value of every drill. Detailed descriptions provide thorough instruction for proper execution of each move.

Discover the best-seller that has helped wrestlers become champions. The Wrestling Drill Book, Second Edition, is a must-have for every wrestler and coach.

William A. (Bill) Welker, EdD, boasts over 55 years of experience
as a successful wrestler, coach, and official. He is a former
Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) state champion
and PIAA state runner-up. Welker also competed at the collegiate level
for the University of Pittsburgh.

As head sophomore coach at Wheeling Park High School (West Virginia), he
was instrumental in producing three AAA state championship teams. For
his efforts as a high school coach, Welker was selected as one of the
top wrestling coaches in the country by Scholastic Wrestling News. He
has coached wrestling at the youth, middle school, and high school
levels for three decades.

In 2005, Welker retired after 25 years as a wrestling referee. During
his officiating tenure, he has been named the West Virginia Official of
the Year (1990),

the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Mideast
Section Distinguished Official of the Year (2001), and the National
Official of the Year by Wrestling USA magazine (2002).

Since 1989, Welker has been the West Virginia state clinician, rules
interpreter, and state tournament supervisor of officials. He is
currently serving on the NFHS national wrestling rules committee.

Welker has written over 600 articles on the art and science of wrestling
since 1974. He was named the National Sportswriter of the Year by Wrestling
USA magazine in 1987, and he has received the West Virginia
Snyder-Miller Media Award an unprecedented seven times by the state
coaches’ association. He also wrote the script and produced the DVD
titled The Pancake Takedown Series (2008), which is being
distributed throughout the United States.

Welker has been inducted into four wrestling halls of fame, including
the West Virginia chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the
Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame. He also received the prestigious
Master of Wrestling Award from Wrestling USA magazine (2008).

Welker earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the
University of Pittsburgh. He later acquired a doctorate in the field of
education from West Virginia University. Upon his retirement from his
40-year teaching career in 2009, Welker was named Teacher of the Year by
the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.

Welker and his wife, Peggy, have four children and 13 grandchildren.
They reside on Wheeling Island in Wheeling, West Virginia.

About the Contributors

Jim Akerly is the founder, director, and coach for the Quest
School of Wrestling in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, where he has produced
many prominent youth, scholastic, and collegiate wrestlers. While
wrestling for West Virginia University, Akerly became the
third-winningest wrestler in school history, recording 119 victories,
and was a silver medalist at the prestigious Midlands Tournament in
1986. He qualiﬁed for the NCAA Division I Championships three times and
earned All-American laurels in 1987. As a coach, Akerly headed up the
Pennsylvania freestyle and Greco national teams from 1989 to 1997. At
the collegiate level, he coached at West Virginia University, Edinboro
(Pennsylvania), Rider University (New Jersey), the University of
Virginia, and American University in Washington, DC. While coaching at
American University, he was selected as the Colonial Athletic
Association’s Wrestling Coach of the Year in 1997. Akerly resides in
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

Bill Archer is the principal at St. Joseph Central Catholic High
School in Huntington, West Virginia. Under his direction as head
wrestling coach at Huntington High School, his teams have amassed a
phenomenal dual-meet record of 426-83 (.837). Over a 33-year period at
the helm, his teams have won 24 regional championships (which ranks him
as one of the top 10 coaches in the state) and produced 26 individual
West Virginia state champions. In 2001, the two-time state Coach of the
Year was selected as the National Wrestling Coach of the Year by the
National High School Coaches Association. A former West Virginia
Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) state champion, Archer
was the all-time winningest wrestler at Marshall University in
Huntington and was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame
in 2004. Archer is the state editor of Wrestling USA magazine and
has served as the state chairman for USA Wrestling since 1986. He was
selected as the 2006 West Virginia Wrestling Coach of the Year by his
coaching peers and received the Master of Wrestling Award from Wrestling
USA magazine. Archer is a member of the West Virginia chapter of the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He holds a master’s degree in
educational administration. Archer and his wife, Diane, have two
children and four grandchildren. They reside in Huntington, West
Virginia.

Since 2001 Bruce Burnett has been the head coach of the Navy
wrestling program with the goal of adding to the storied tradition while
helping mentor what will be our nation’s leaders. During his tenure, he
has led the Midshipmen to a 101-50 record (.669) that featured six
straight seasons of 10 or more wins from 2002 to 2007. Along the way, he
has helped produce nine EIWA champions while 10 wrestlers have garnered
All-American recognition under his tutelage. Burnett started his
coaching career at Meridian High School in Meridian, Idaho, where he was
the head coach from 1974 to 1987. In his 14 years, Burnett had a stout
record of 154-13-2 (.917). His teams won nine conference, six district,
and four state championships. He was named Idaho Coach of the Year six
times. Burnett is a 1973 graduate of Idaho State, where he received his
bachelor of arts degree in secondary education. He and his wife, Karen,
live in Annapolis, Maryland.

Dave LaMotte was the head wrestling coach for the Salt River
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community High School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
During his 24-year coaching tenure, LaMotte has produced 17 individual
state champions, 53 state place winners, 28 district titlists, and 3
high school All-Americans. LaMotte began his coaching career at his alma
mater in Bridgeport, Ohio, where his 1988 team captured the Division III
state championship and he was voted the Ohio Division III Coach of the
Year in 1989. In 1993 LaMotte earned Coach of the Year honors when his
Gilbert High School (Arizona) squad won the 5A state championship.
LaMotte also coached his two sons, who were both Arizona state champions
and NCAA Division II All-Americans. As a competitor, LaMotte was an
all-state high school wrestler and compiled a record of 103-14-2 for
West Liberty State College in West Virginia. He was also a two-time
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American
and an NAIA champion. In 2004 he was inducted into West Liberty
University’s Athletic Hall of Fame. LaMotte and his wife, Vickie, reside
in Gold Canyon, Arizona.

Pat Pecora, who also serves as Pitt-Johnstown’s athletic director
since July 2008, took over the Mountain Cat wrestling program in 1976.
In 36 years, his teams have captured 20 NCAA Regional Championships,
including 5 straight from 2003 to 2007 and 10 in a row from 1992 through
2001. Coach Pecora has been selected as the NCAA Regional Coach of the
Year 14 times. His Mountain Cat squads have finished in the top 20 in
the nation 29 times and have combined to win 48 team tournaments and 500
dual meets. Coach Pecora has tutored 134 All-Americans and 10 individual
national champions, including Shane Valko (133 lbs.), the 2010 National
Wrestler of the Year. Academically, his teams led the nation in NWCA
All-Academic wrestling team selections from 1997 through 2000. Since
1990, Coach Pecora has coached 95 NWCA All-Academic wrestling team
members. In 1996 and 1999, his teams captured the NCAA Division II
National Championship, the first and second in school history. In 1995
and 1999, Coach Pecora was named NCAA Division II National Coach of the
Year. Also in 1999, he received the National Wrestling Coaches
Association Coaching Excellence Award, given to the best coach in all
divisions. Coach Pecora also coached the national all-star team, which
showcased the best wrestlers in the nation from all divisions. On
February 14, 2012, Coach Pecora became the first in NCAA Division II
history and just the sixth in all divisions to earn 500 career dual-meet
victories. He has been inducted into five halls of fame, including the
Division II National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania
Wrestling Hall of Fame. Coach Pecora and his wife, Tracy, have four
children.

The late Edwin C. Peery was a professor and coach emeritus for
the United States Naval Academy. He was head coach of the Midshipmen
wrestling team from 1960 until 1987 and retired from the Academy in
2000. During his coaching tenure, Peery posted a 311-90-14 dual-meet
record, coaching eight Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association
(EIWA) championship teams, 48 individual EIWA titlists, and 16 NCAA
All-Americans. He was named NCAA Coach of the Year in 1968 and received
EIWA coaching honors in 1974 and 1986. He was an honorary lifetime
member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, having served as
its president and as a member of its rules committee. A two-time
Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) state champion,
Peery won three NCAA titles under the coaching of his father, the
legendary Rex Peery, at the University of Pittsburgh. Peery was also a
distinguished member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the
Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame, and he was selected as an
Outstanding American by the Maryland chapter of the National Wrestling
Hall of Fame. Peery is survived by his wife, Gretchen.

Larry Shaw was the head wrestling coach at Oak Glen High School
in New Cumberland, West Virginia, for 31 years, retiring in 2010. He led
his Golden Bears squad on an incredible run of 13 consecutive West
Virginia AA state championships from 1997 to 2009. This feat is
unmatched by any other wrestling program or any other sport in West
Virginia and ranks fifth among wrestling programs across the United
States, tied with St. Edward’s in Lakewood, Ohio. Shaw also posted five
straight West Virginia AAA runner-up finishes (1987-91). He finished
with a career dual-meet record of 330-96-4. Shaw coached 51 individual
state champions and more than 160 others who earned all-state honors.
For his efforts, Shaw was named the West Virginia AA Dix Manning Coach
of the Year seven times. He is the only wrestling coach to be selected
the West Virginia All-Sports Coach of the Year by the West Virginia
Sports Writers Association in 2000. Shaw was also honored as the
National Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2008 by Wrestling USA
magazine. A past president of the West Virginia Wrestling Coaches
Association, Shaw has promoted wrestling throughout the state and
continues to do so. He has been inducted into five wrestling and sports
halls of fame, including the West Virginia chapter of the National
Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2010 and the NFHS National Sports Hall of Fame
in 2011. Shaw and his wife, Cindy, reside in New Cumberland, West
Virginia.

Ken L. Taylor has been head wrestling coach at Rocky Mountain
High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, since 2001. During this time, he
has led teams to 6 regional championships and 3 conference titles as
well as producing 10 individual state champions. His squads have had 5
top 10 finishes at state championships. Taylor was also a 1972 NAIA
All-American silver medalist for Colorado’s Adams State College and
captain of the school’s 1972 NAIA national championship team. During
Taylor’s 15-year coaching tenure at Poudre High School (Colorado), his
teams won four district titles and two regional championships. He also
produced seven top 10 teams at the state level, six individual state
titlists, and two state runner-up squads. Taylor has been voted Colorado
State Wrestling Coach of the Year on three occasions. He also coached
the Colorado wrestling all-star team in 1981 and 1990. Taylor and his
wife, Julie, reside in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Craig Turnbull has served as the head wrestling coach at West
Virginia University since 1979. He is the winningest coach in West
Virginia University history, having built one of the strongest and most
dominating wrestling programs in the United States. His teams have
compiled a record of 265 dual-meet wins, ranking him the
seventh-winningest active coach in Division I wrestling. He produced 42
Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) champions, 26 All-Americans, 7 NCAA
finalists, and 3 wrestlers who won ﬁve NCAA Division I titles. Since he
has won the NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year award, Turnbull’s
squads have consistently placed in the top 25 nationally. In 1990,
Turnbull was selected as the Eastern Wrestling League’s Coach of the
Year as West Virginia University captured its ﬁrst Eastern Mat Poll No.
1 ranking. Turnbull was also selected to coach the National Wrestling
Coaches Association’s All-Star Classic in 1992. He has been named the
EWL’s Coach of the Year three times and has won ﬁve Eastern Dual Meet
Championships from 1990 to 2003. Turnbull is a member of the
Wesleyville-Iroquois-Lawrence Park Hall of Fame and the Metro Erie
chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He is currently a board
member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Coach Turnbull and
his wife, Sue, have two children and reside in Morgantown, West Virginia.

“The Wrestling Drill Book assists coaches from youth to college
levels in developing championship wrestlers. It’s a must-read.”

Bobby Douglas-- U.S. Olympic Coach (1992, 2004), NWCA Coach of
the Year (2000), U.S. Freestyle World Team Head Coach (’89, ’91, ’02,
’03)

"To reach your potential as a wrestler, you must be willing to
work hard in the off-season. The Wrestling Drill Book offers some
great training activities to help you do this."